Klasik-69

That is why I asked about doing this. The problem with drilling a blind hole is you never know what's on the other side. I can't help wonder why Ford overlooked having a drain plug. I don't know of any tranny that has lifetime lube benefits. I went down to West Marine and bought an oil extractor for $49 and managed to suck out the oil from the top in about 2 minutes. Also, my top plate plug (1/4 NPT) is fitted with a dip stick............must be made by someone other than Ford. Does anyone know how much lube the T9 holds ? Looks like I pulled just a bit over one quart but I'm not sure how the level was before since it didn't show on the dip stick.

I have a T9 5 speed (maybe they're all 5 speeds ?) that has no drain plug. I've done some searches and seen where others have run into the problem of changing the oil. I'd like to drill a hole in the bottom left side where there is a bit of a flat spot in the casting and put in a 3/8 NPT drain plug. Anyone out there try this ? Yes, I know I can suck out the oil from the top or remove the driveshaft and lift the front of the car until it all runs out the tailshaft housing. I really don't understand why this tranny doesn't have a drain plug. Hopefully someone has done what I'd like to do and can warn me of some of the pitfalls, like a gear being right behind the flad spot I'm thinking of drilling. Mike

It was when we still had hair !!

I sure looked hard at the Stalker before buying the Caterham. The idea of a supercharged 3.8 l V6 is very appealing, and their cars are well regarded by everyone. I used to own a 98 Grand Prix GTP with the supercharged 3.8, and it was a lot of fun. I tore up 2 trannies under warranty with it. The way I got the Caterham is my doctor who just put in a new right knee for me was talking about his Lotus. He knew I raced a spec Miata and started talking to me about cars. He casually said he needed to sell the Lotus without saying why. Well, that got me thinking and before I knew it, we were talking money. It's an 04 Superlight R300 with the Zetec 2.0L, 202 HP and all the carbon fiber options, including race seats and 6 point harnesses. About 4 weeks after my knee replacement, I was driving the car home and I've been smiling ever since. The car is tight on me but again, losing weight wouldn't hurt my health either. I didn't know about the SV option until after I bought the car....not sure it would have made any difference. I got a great deal on it and I can still wedge my arse in there. Scannon got me straight on wheel adapters and now I can run my Miata wheels..........life is good.

Gloom and Doom ? Haven't you heard, our president is printing up money faster than we can borrow it .................... Yep, we know the road to prosperity :svengo:

Just looked it up............Okaloosa is near Ft. Walton and Pensacola. I don't get over there at all..........ever !

Thanks for the welcome Scott. Taber 10, I'll have to look up where Okaloosa is in Florida. Do you believe it, living in Florida for 50 years and don't know where it is ? I live in Melbourne, about 30 miles south of Cape Kennedy on the East Coast. Yes, I'd like to see how much bigger an SV is.......perhaps you attend shows or track events ? If so, which ones ? Mike

Thanks John. Yes, if he was 5-8 and a thin frame, this car would fit well. I wish I had the opportunity to have the wider frame but this car will keep me from gaining weight. And yes, I agree the apeal of this car is its extremely light weight and as such, the extremely quick and nimble handling. I absolutely love this car, I only wish I was a little skinnier. So now, I'm riding the bicycle almost every night for 15 to 16 miles to get some fat off. That's how much I enjoy this car. Any idea how many members belong to this forum ? While on this subject, how many in Florida ?

Before I bought my R300, I never knew there were so many different "7's" out there. I had never heard of Birkin, Locost, Brunton, etc. I thought the Ford A/C Cobra car was a very copied car but the Lotus 7 may dwarf that. One thing I can't figure out is why Colin Chapman built such a small driver's compartment. Was he a very small person ? I'm 5-10 at 215 lbs and its all I can do to fit in there. And Brits are not known to be small like the Japanese or Chinese either, or light in the waist. To say its snug is an understatement. I realize he was trying to minimize weight but how much weight does the SV model add to the standard config ? I wouldn't think its more than 25 or 30 lbs. Mike

Ford uses a slip-tube type of connection on some connections like the fuel and A/C hoses. The "clip" is part of the hose end and requires a special slip tool to release the clip out of the groove on the receiving end. I have never seen it on clutches here but I believe this is a European tranny and may differ from what we have here. I own a company that makes hydraulic hose assemblies for the public, and we quite commonly make up custom hoses that can't be found anywhere. I would recommend you find out where this tranny is used (ie Ford Focus, Escort, etc) then try to buy a clutch hose for it. That will give you the connection end at the tranny. Then you can take this hose to a custom hose shop and they can cut off the factory end and attach it to a hose assembly that connects to the clutch master cylinder. If this hose is as I described above, they will have to make their connection far enough away from the slip on end that if brazing is involved, they don't fry the "o" ring seal in that end.

Goodwin Racing has new wheels available in 15X7 and 15X8 in a 4X100 configuration that weigh around 11 lbs. If I remember correctly, they're around $180/each and only available for a limited time. Having said that, the weight of the wider tire may well offset the benefit of the lighter wheel. I was reading on the British 7 forum called "blatchat" and noticed that they are very anal about wheel and tire weights. They would likely cringe if they saw the wheels we slap on these cars but they seem to have a lot more tire choices over there in the 13" diameter than we do here. I also get the impression that their cars are more of the earlier Lotus 7 series with the smaller engines and lower HP, and thus may be more dependent on suspension factors.

I took Skip's (Scannon) advice and mounted the 4x100 wheel adapters on mine so I could also mount my Miata wheels. I also have 22 mm thick adapters, and the Enkei wheels have 38 mm offset on the 15x7, 32mm on the 15x6.5. The 15X6.5 and the 15x7 Enkei weigh around 13 pounds (w/o tire). I clear the wing stays by about 3/8" inch by the sidewall. Whether I use the Toyo T1R or the Hoosier R6, the overall weight is considerably greater than the 13" wheels that came with the car, especially with the lightweight Avon CR500 tires. The fronts with the Avon 175 55R13 are probably 6 lbs lighter, and the rears with the Avon 205 50R13 CR500 7 to 8 lbs lighter than the Enkei wheels. Its hard to beat the light weight of the Caterham wheels with Avon's fitted. I haven't been back out to the track with the Enkei wheels yet to see if the ride/performance is up or down but I do like the taller 1st gear that the larger diameter wheels provide.

I saw this when researching some of the T9 events. http://my.voyager.net/~quadrant19/Gearbox-upgrade.html Hope it helps you. I've never done it or even looked inside a T9, just relaying what I read.

About 20 years ago we switched to Delo 400 (Chevron) oil for our diesel engines. We run about 25 pieces of equipment including some gas engines. We have never experienced an engine failure since going to the Chevron oils.

After getting some valuable input from scannon on wheel adapters, I mounted 4x100 adapters on my hubs, 22 mm thick, to mount my Miata race wheels with Hoosier 205 50 r 15 for track events or the Toyo T1R 195-55 r 15 for street use. I ordered the taller stays from Caterham USA and just remounted the original wings on them. I now have 1/4" sidewall clearance to the stay and 1.5" between the top of the tire and the bottom of the wing, maybe 7/8" between the tire and the bottom of the stay tube. Also, I got some custom made fenders from Fenders N More in California that are 10" wide aluminum, 0.090 thickness, for when using the Hoosier tires on the track. 9" wide would have been a better choice but these will work just as well. Cost of the fenders including shipping was $178 for the two fenders. They'll make whatever you want in terms of width or radius. Their work is great. Anyone wanting some should contact them sales@fendersnmore.com It took them about 3 weeks to get them to me from the time I ordered them. They can also make them in polished stainless steel for those who don't care about the extra weight and want the shiny look.

I've done some searches and it appears all have run into the same thing I see.....the rear brake calipers are fitted with rigid brake lines yet need to be moved out of the way for pad replacement. I was thinking of changing the hard lines to a flex line. Anyone try to do this already ? If so, give me some input. I'm thinking of getting a male inverted flare to male jic adapter for either end and then making a flex stainless steel hose to run between the adapters with #4 JIC female swivel ends (we make these hoses in our shop so its not big deal). I may have to make the male inverted flare to male JIC adapters if nobody makes them. This sure would facilitate changing pads at the track.

I was having the same thought as Whizzy. I currently have a 8.5 x 24 enclosed V-nose trailer and its like pulling a billboard behind my truck. I wanted a lightweight, possibly open trailer, that I can tow my R300 to and from the track. The enclosed trailer is nice....air conditioned and fitted with a winch, generator, a lot of tools, and it drains a gas tank on my F150 like it had a hole in it. At 70 mph, 8 to 8.5 mpg. The only trailer I saw that seemed user friendly is the one built by Stalker in Bradenton, Fl for their car. It's a single axle tilt bed trailer but I think it sells for over $3K. I'm thinking of maybe building one like theirs but I'm still looking around.

My car is a 2004 R300 and its filter is located in the back of the car just forward of the fuel tank. I'm a newbie at this so if that seems like a stupid idea, consider the source. But perhaps you can locate the filter in that area which is not likely to be blasted with heat as it would be next to the engine, and may eliminate vapor lock or other issues. Just a suggestion !!

At this time it appears to have met the minimum bid level, now a tad bid over $20K. I figure anything under 25K is good for this car. I have spent the last 4 months looking at 7's for sale and they are few and far between. One site of super 7 owners had about 6 to 8 cars for sale, one asking $69K (R500) but none lower than about $24K. I don't know if the older 7's built by Lotus, prior to Caterham, are valued more or less than the latter ones..............not sure. I like the advanced technology but the real deal sometimes outweighs everything else. I am buying a 2003 Caterham R300 fitted with a 2.0L duratec 205 hp engine, 5 speed tranny in absolutely perfect condition for $30K, closing on the deal next Monday. I thought I was lucky to have it but what do I know ?

I've had this happen more than once..........luckily never in the rain and never in a seven. Same thing happenned, one glove goes shooting down the footwell, out of reach but always getting in the way of one foot or the other.

Yes, you're right about the car being closer to an R400 in specs but he bought the R300 then opted for the bigger HP motor. I don't really know enough about these cars to make any kind of claim of opinion. I believe you're right about having to get a doctor to surgically remove the smile off your face after the first drive. Top speed, as you pointed out, may be the drop off but it will be much better than the Spec Miata. I never saw more than 106 at Sebring with it, and at that I had to flog the bejesus out of it. On the other hand, we were hitting 174 mph at Daytona running the Z06 on the Rolex 24 hour course. I'm thinking the top speed of the 7 may be around 140, depending on tire size. Let me know if I'm way off base. Also, don't hesitate to give me any information or tips you think will benefit.

I'm brand new to the Lotus scene, not sure if this thread is done or dead but I thought I'd jump in anyway and introduce myself. I'm in the process of buying an 03 Caterham R300 superlight fitted with the Duratec 2.0 L 205 hp engine and 5 speed tranny. I have yet to drive this car. I'm buying it from the doctor who did my total knee replacement 5 weeks ago. I'm a business owner in Melbourne, Florida who now has the extra time to pursue life's little pleasures. I race in SCCA SM class and have run numerous HPDE events all over the southeast. I have mostly run my 07 Z06 Corvette on the tracks to include Daytona, Sebring, PBIR, Gainesvill, Roebling and Barber Motorsports Park. The Miata has left me wanting more speed, hence the interest in the Super 7. I also own a 2007 Z51 Corvette convertible, a 1969 matching numbers big block Corvette roadster, and a 1967 Pontiac GTO (not matching anything). I hope to learn from you seasonned Lotus owners and hope not to bore you with stupid questions. I promise to do a search first, then if I don't feel like I found out what I need to know, I'll post. Thanks to all